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Chapter 17: Unrest in the Alienage pt. 1

Malcolm and the group, comprised of Halia, Leliana, Wynne, Oghren, and Zevran, walk down the bridge and passes a wooden gate. They look around as they walk in, eventually reaching what could be the main square and see a crowd of elves in front of foreign humans, which causes Zevran to touch Malcolm's shoulder gently. "Those men are dressed as Tevinter magisters and soldiers."

Malcolm nods and leads the group forward and they hear a woman in the elven crowd, "I've got children at home! I can't wait out here for another day!"

A new elf walks near the crowd. "So go home! The best thing you can do for your children is not trust these charlatans!"

One of the Tevinter mages, who Malcolm assumes is in charge, speaks up to calm everyone down. "Everyone remain calm. We will help as many as we can today, so long as we can do this in an orderly fashion."

The new elf looks at him, her fists clenching a bit. "Oh, you're "helping" us, are you, shem? Like Valendrian and my uncle Cyrion, you helped them, didn't you? Helped them never to be seen again!"

The human sighs as he looks at her. "We've explained this to you before, girl. More whining will not persuade us to let you into the quarantine to carry the plague back out to the Alienage."

One of the elves looks at the woman, his face clearly showing he is annoyed. "Quit trying to get us all killed, Shianni! Some of us have still got things to live for."

Shianni shakes her head. "If this spell of theirs works, why are half the people they quarantine perfectly healthy?"

The group walks up to Shianni and Malcolm carefully and gently puts a hand on her shoulder just long enough to get her attention. "I heard there was trouble, can I help?"

Shianni turns around and crosses her arms. "What's wrong, shem, did you get bored and decide to come watch the elves die of plague?" She shakes her head before seeing Halia. "Wait… Soris told me about you. You're the Dalish who freed him from the dungeons. And if you're traveling with a human that must mean," she looks at Malcolm, "you were also there to help Soris. These foreigners say they're here to help with our outbreak of plague. Funny thing, though, all the people they "help" disappear."

The woman from before looks at her. "That's not true, and you know it, Shianni! Both my sisters got the Tevinter spell cast on them, and they're fine."

Shianni shakes her head and looks at her. "Where's your niece, then? And my Uncle Cyrion? And Valendrian?"

Malcolm looks at the Tevinters then back at Shianni. "There's magic being used? Does the Chantry know?"

"Those mages say they're from a Circle, just from another land. I have no idea if they're telling the truth, or if anyone cares! These foreigners have taken dozens of elves into that house over the last few weeks, and none of them have been seen again. One of them was our hahren, Valendrian. And I don't know what we're going to do if we don't get him back."

"What's a hahren?"

"He's… he's the elder. The person who guides us. Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but it's important to us."

"Does the guard know about this?"

"They have to know about it. The hahren complained, and so did I. They just don't care, or… something worse."

He looks up at the building. "I think I'll go take a look inside the hospice."

"They won't just let you in."

"Maybe there's another way inside?"

"Well… there is another entrance in the alley. There's no crowd watching, no mages, and only one guard. You can try. Those guards mean business."

Malcolm nods before heading towards the mage in charge, who looks at him and the group. "I ask you to stand back. Some of these people are carrying the plague. The Alienage is not safe for visitors."

"Aren't you afraid of getting the plague?"

A second mage speaks up, seemingly a bit irritated. "If we did not know how to prevent the plague, we would not be here now."

Wynne looks at him. "What school of magic does this spell belong to? Our Circle knows of none which fully prevents plagues."

The first mage puts a hand up. "You will have to excuse us, but we are not authorized to share the secrets of our Circle with outsiders. But for your own safety, we must ask you to leave now."

Malcolm nods and backs away before leading the group away and down the alley that Shianni mentioned and sees an elf standing guard for the back door. As the group walks up, the elf sighs. "No, you can't go inside 'just for a moment,' so you might as well walk right back around to the front doors. You shouldn't be out on the streets now anyway, what with the plague."

Malcolm tilts his head a bit. "Keeping your people from their families doesn't bother you?"

The elf sighs again. "Look, this is how things are. I didn't make the Blight, or the plague, or anything. I'm just trying to make a living."

"Aren't you afraid of getting the plague yourself?"

"What's worse? Dying of the plague or dying of hunger? I'll take my chances with the plague, thank you, if it means I get paid. I've been hungry. The novelty's worn off."

"How much do they pay you?"

"Not enough to put up with all these questions. What do you want?"

Malcolm pulls out his money bag and looks through it. "Would you let me in that house for six sovereigns?"

The elf's eyes widen. "Six?" Malcolm nods and pulls out the six sovereigns. "Sure… I never saw you, and you never saw me." Malcolm hands him the coins then the elf walks away.

Malcolm heads up to the door and slowly opens it before the group heads in. As they all walk in, there are several Tevinter guards that look up and draw their weapons. Malcolm draws his sword and shield then charges the nearest one. "Kill the intruders!" Malcolm dodges and deflects the attack of a greatsword several times before spinning around to the back of the Tevinter and precisely slices the back of his neck while Halia and Leliana take their time with their arrows, shooting them into the weak points of the armor. Oghren and Zevran go after their own targets and soon, all guards are dead.

Malcolm looks around as he puts his shield on his back as the others starts looking around as well and Leliana approaches the table before grabbing a scroll and a key while looking at the scroll. "Malcolm. Take a look." He walks over to her and takes a look. 'Bring eight males and six females for the next shipment.'

He shakes his head. "Never trust the Tevinter." He looks around and spots a third door. He walks over and tries the door, only to realize that it's locked. He looks at Leliana who walks over and uses the key to unlock it. Malcolm walks in and looks around at the various cages. "Maker's breath."

Inside one of the cages is several elves and one walks to the wall and calls out to the group, "Help us! Please, we're not sick. Let us out of here!" Malcolm walks over to them and he nods before opening the cage. The elves walk out and the same one bows his head a bit "Thank you, friend."

Malcolm nods before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Where's Valendrian?"

"They took him away already. Through the back alley. We don't know where, exactly."

Malcolm nods. "Got it. You all should get out of here."

The elf nods. "You don't have to say that twice." The elves run out and through the back door as the group head out through the front.

Once outside, the Magisters turn and draw their staves, causing the guards to draw their weapons and attack. Malcolm attacks one of the Magister, his slice is blocked by the staff, and he follows up with another slice from a different angle, this time with electricity flowing down the blade. The sword connects with the staff, causing the magic to flow to the hands of the mage, weakening his grip which allowed Malcolm to knock the staff out of his hands before thrusting his sword through the heart of the mage. He leaves the swords in the body as he barely dodges a blow from one of the guards before he sends a bolt of lightning at the guard, stunning him long enough for Malcolm to pull his sword out of the corpse and decapitates the guard. He looks around and sees the other Magister and guards dead, with Oghren pulling his greatsword out of the Magister's body. Soon Shianni runs up to Malcolm. "What happened? Some of the elves ran out… but I didn't recognize any of them! Where are all the others?"

Malcolm looks at her. "They were the only ones inside, I'm sorry."

Shianni shakes her head in disbelief. "How is that possible? They've taken dozens of us into quarantine… Where else could they be? It makes no sense!"

Malcolm pulls out the note that was found inside and hands it to her. "I found this in there."

She looks confused as she grabs it and starts reading it, her eyes widening. "What does this even mean? They can't be shipping people, can they?" She looks up at Malcolm. "Shipping them where?" She thinks for a moment. "They could be moving through the back alleys. There are all sorts of buildings back there, they could be using one as some sort of… warehouse? Staging area? There are apartments off the alleys. I would go to the back of the hospice and maybe follow the alley from there. Please, find them."

Malcolm nods and puts his hand on her shoulder. "We will. Don't worry."

She lets out a sigh of relief. "Thank you… I'm sorry, I don't even know who you are."

"It's alright. Malcolm of the Grey Wardens."

Her eyes widen. "A Grey Warden? I am so sorry for my behavior. I better get out of your way so you can go save people, isn't that what Wardens do?" She gives a small nod of the head before walking away.